Napoleon Cake is a classic dessert from the French tradition that we always find in pastry shops, but it is so simple that we can make it at home. To speed things up, I bought pre-cooked puff pastry bases, but you can use fresh puff pastry rolls, divide them into 3 parts, prick the bottom, sprinkle with sugar, and bake. I must say that even pre-cooked it is very good for preparing this Napoleon Cake with Cream and Strawberries… and a decoration made with melted dark chocolate.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: French
- Seasonality: Winter, Spring
Ingredients
- 10.5 oz puff pastry (pre-cooked)
- 1/2 cup fresh whipping cream
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 cup strawberries
- 3.5 oz 70% dark chocolate
- 1.7 cup whole milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch (cornflour)
- 1 tbsp rice flour
- 1 1/2 bean vanilla
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 3/4 cup fresh whipping cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Tools
- Kitchen Scale
- Bowl
- Electric Beater
- Brush
- Sieve
Steps
Pour the milk (minus a few tablespoons) into a saucepan with the lemon peel and bring to a boil. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar and the vanilla bean seeds for a few seconds with a beater. Add cornstarch, rice flour and mix, adding a little reserved milk, and pour everything, stirring quickly with a whisk. When it starts to boil, it’s ready. Let the custard cool, covered in contact with food wrap. This will prevent a skin from forming.
Pour cold cream into a stand mixer or bowl (also better if very cold, including the whisk). Whip at medium speed until the cream reaches a firm consistency. Add powdered sugar with a small sieve to avoid lumps and incorporate it using a spatula. Combine the two creams and mix to get a smooth and homogeneous mixture, this is the diplomatic cream. Prepare a puff pastry base on a tray.
Brush the surface with melted chocolate (in a bowl in the microwave). Pour some cream using a piping bag or, as I did, with a spoon, distribute a portion of strawberries cut into pieces and drizzle with a thread of melted chocolate. Place the other base on top, brushing the underside and the top side first.
Pour the remaining cream, again the strawberries cut into pieces, a loop of melted chocolate and cover with the third puff pastry brushed with chocolate on the side that goes underneath. Decorate with the 100 ml of whipped cream with 15 g of powdered sugar, whole strawberries and melted chocolate for decoration. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
Tips
Tips
Remember that to get well-whipped and firm cream you need to use very cold cream and the utensils you will use, bowl and whisks, should also be well chilled from the fridge. Once well whipped, add the powdered sugar, first sifted and then gently incorporated into the cream with a spatula.
